Brothers
by EmeraldTulip
Summary: '"Why didn't you let me fall?" The words somehow just slipped from his lips, he really hadn't meant to say it. But still, he scrambled for the words to say next. "Why didn't you just save yourself?" - "Do you really think that I would ever let you die? You're my brother, Chase."'
**Title:** _Brothers_

 **Rating:** K+

 **Genre:** Family, hurt/comfort, a little angst

 **Characters:** Chase, Leo, mentions of quite a few others

 **Pairing(s):** None, just Chase/Leo siblingness

 **Summary:** '"Why didn't you let me fall?" The words somehow just slipped from his lips, he really hadn't meant to say it. But still, he scrambled for the words to say next. "Why didn't you just save yourself?" - "Do you really think that I would _ever_ let you die? You're my _brother_ , Chase."'

 **Warnings:** It's a tiny bit dark, but none, really

 **Notes:** This takes place a few days after On The Edge. There are some mentions of the extended scene from _On The Edge: Part 1_ , but you don't have to have seen it to understand. I wrote this because I needed some Cheo brotherly bonding. I've also got another short A/N at the bottom, but for now, there's not much else to say, so… enjoy the story!

* * *

 _He looks down as he gets his head through the sunroof and immediately realizes he shouldn't have. The limo is swaying, tipping, and he's going to fall, he_ knows _he is, and he's the smartest human alive so of_ course _he's right. He's going to die._

 _"_ _Take my hand!"_

 _He looks back up to see Leo, who is grabbing on to the car with one hand, reaching out to him with the other._

 _But Chase can't. If he moves the limo will fall, killing him_ and _Leo._

 _"_ _You have to let go or it's going to take you with it!" he screams, and Leo shakes his head._

 _"_ _I'm not letting go!"_

 _The limo slips once more, and Chase slides back, almost falling inside the limo again. The panic building in his chest somehow multiplies by a thousand, and then practically explodes. His ears suddenly stop working—which is weird, especially for him with his super hearing—and his other senses are overwhelmed with the terror._

 _He can't hear his brother yelling, the others calling to him from across the bridge. He can't see. Everything is just blinding, the extreme, plain-old_ fear _that is flooding him._

 _And he realizes: it's not even because he knows_ he _is going to die. Well, it is—he is terrified beyond belief of dying—but that isn't the only reason. It is because he doesn't want_ Leo _to die._

Let go, Leo, _he thinks._ Please, let go. Just let go. Don't die because of me. _He's pleading in his mind, but can't manage to get the words out._

 _And even though he knows he should trust his brother to save him, he just… can't._

 _The car jolts again, and Chase falls once again. This time, he can't take it anymore. "Help me!"_

 _"_ _Chase."_

 _He continues to scream until his throat is raw._

 _"_ _Chase!"_

 _He still can't stop._

"Chase!"

* * *

He jolted awake.

He immediately relaxed as soon as he saw he was standing in his capsule, in the mentor's quarters. Leo was standing there with the capsule door open, a hand on Chase's shoulder, worry in his eyes. "Whoa, Chase. What was that?" he asked.

Chase shook his head, very aware of the sweat on his forehead and the tears stinging his eyes. "I'm fine, Leo. Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep. It doesn't matter."

"Oh, no," Leo said, holding up a hand. "Don't give me that 'I'm fine' thing, because you're obviously not."

"But—"

" _No_ , Chase." Leo's voice was firm. "Don't lie to me. Tell me."

"I…" Chase trailed off, unsure of what to say. He just stood there, and Leo didn't move for a full minute. Then the slightly younger boy sighed.

"I get it. After all these years, you _still_ don't trust my with any of your secrets. Fine, I get it. Don't trust the stepbrother." Leo turned on his heel and began to walk in the opposite direction. But then Chase surprised himself.

"Why didn't you let me fall?" The words somehow just slipped from his lips, he really hadn't meant to say it. But still, he scrambled for the words to say next. "Why didn't you just save yourself?"

Leo turned and frowned, obviously confused. Then, his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh. Falling off… the bridge."

Chase scoffed, trying to hide his moment of weakness as he plopped down on the arm of the couch. "No, I meant when Kate tripped me in the training room last week and I fell on the floor. Of _course_ I meant the bridge!"

Leo saw right through his act and walked back over. "Chase." He sounded just so _sad_ when he said it, which honestly puzzled Chase. "You _wanted_ me to let you fall?"

Chase shook his head. "No! Well, yes… but only because I didn't want _you_ to fall, too. I was going to pull you over the side with me, and I didn't want that."

"You don't have to protect me all the time, you know," Leo said. "I can handle myself."

Chase nodded. "No, I know. It's just… We hadn't seen you for a while, and we really thought you'd given up after what happened to Taylor, and—" He cut himself off, noticing the troubled look that crossed over his brother's face at the mention of his teammate's name. "Leo, what happened to Taylor was _not_ your fault. She told you that, and I admit, I overreacted. You're a great hero, and a great brother—and from what I've seen, you're an _amazing_ mentor. You came back for me when the others couldn't, and I just…"

"Chase, it _was_ my fault," Leo insisted. "It was. You can't tell me it wasn't. You guys may have forgiven me, and Taylor is more or less okay, but I'll never forgive myself for what happened. Taylor has to live with my mistake _forever_. And she may not blame me, but I blame myself. I'll never forget, as long as I live."

Chase sighed, knowing full well that Leo wasn't going to relent. "I… guess I understand where you're coming from. Anyway, I was worried about you. You'd been beating yourself up for weeks over what happened, and I just… wasn't sure how everything would play out."

"You didn't think I could save you?" Leo asked dejectedly.

"No," Chase replied honestly. "I didn't think _anybody_ could. It has nothing to do with who you are, it's just that I thought I was too far gone already."

"You thought you were going to fall?"

Chase just shrugged. _Seemed pretty obvious I would. Yet I didn't._ "Well, yeah."

"Do you really think that I would _ever_ let you die? You're my _brother_ , Chase." Leo finished his sentence with a slight smile, sitting down in the chair a few feet away.

"I just…" Chase trailed off with a groan of frustration. "I don't know. I'm used to people forgetting about how I'm not as strong or fast as Adam and Bree, and then they think I can hold up on my own… And I know I can't. You were one of the first people to risk their lives immediately to save me. You didn't have time to think about it, you just ran back, I saw you. You're the first person who came back for me immediately." _Adam and Bree didn't succeed during the avalanche, and I almost died then. The battles I was a part of… no one thought to help me._

Leo sighed. "Chase…"

"You can't deny it," Chase told him. "It's true. People always forget that I'm not invincible—I myself forget sometimes, too. And when I find out that I'm not… well, it's _scary_."

"And that's why you have the nightmares," Leo concluded.

Chase nodded in confirmation and settled his head into his hands, echoing Leo's words, "And that's why I have the nightmares."

"But you're not alone, Chase," Leo immediately said. "You shouldn't keep it all to yourself. Tell us—me, or Adam or Bree. We're your family, your _siblings_ , we understand. Not to mention, we've all had more than a few near-death experiences. We can help you. But you have to _tell_ us for that to work."

Chase nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Yeah. Okay."

"Promise me," Leo insisted, evidently not believing him—after all, Chase did have a habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders without letting anyone help. "Promise me that you'll tell us if you need our help."

Chase (finally) glanced up. "I promise."

"Good."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Chase spoke once again. "You know, we all really missed you when you were gone. Everyone did."

Leo laughed slightly, shaking his head. "Oh, really?"

"Honest," Chase grinned back. "Taylor asked about you all the time. Logan did, too. Believe it or not, but even _Spin_ asked if you were coming back."

Leo rolled his eyes. "No way. I'm sorry, I _can't_ believe that."

"No, I'm serious!" Chase insisted. "Ask anyone! He asked multiple times, actually. That kid likes you and looks up to you more than he'll ever admit."

Leo's grin widened slightly. "Well, what can I say? Like Logan says: I'm inspirational."

Chase forged on, feeling encouraged by Leo's sudden sarcastic and joking nature. "The night you left, Bree and I had to sing Adam a lullaby because he couldn't sleep—apparently, you usually sing him a song when that happens."

Leo laughed full-out after that. "Uh-huh. I don't even remember how that started, I just remember that I always do it if he's awake and roaming the house in the middle of the night. But," he held up a hand, "I don't like performing for anyone. So don't ask."

"I wasn't going to!" Chase retorted good-naturedly. "No one wants to hear your singing!"

Leo scoffed. "Puh- _lease_. I mean, _everyone_ wants to hear my singing. Don't deny it."

Chase opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a groan from Bree. "Ugh, seriously?" She opened her eyes and glared at them, muttering, "Brothers." She yawned briefly before ranting at them again. "It's like, two in the morning, and these capsules are supposed to be soundproof! Why do you talk so loud all the time? Go back to sleep!"

Unfortunately, Adam shot awake as well, stretching. "Wh—what's happening?" he asked, yawning in the middle of his sentence.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Chase replied. "Go back to sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Bree murmured sleepily, already drifting towards sleep.

"So…" Leo glanced over at Chase cautiously as the boy genius stood up. "You good?"

Chase nodded. "Never better. You?"

"I'm fine." He smiled. "Thank you. For being such a great brother."

"Anytime," Chase replied, smirking. "And hey, if you're an inspiration, then I'm a psychologist."

"Ha ha," Leo said sarcastically. "Now, I'm pretty sure that we have classes tomorrow, _you_ might want to consider sleep, as well."

Chase nodded and headed back towards his capsule, but at that moment, Adam called out once more. "Guys, I can't sleep."

Bree, looking fairly ticked-off, immediately stepped out of her capsule and Chase backtracked, both of them heading over to stand in Adam's.

"Oh, boy," Leo groaned, turning to face them as Adam grinned with happiness. "How good are your singing voices?"

* * *

 **If there were any mistakes, I'm sorry, it's _super_ later over here and I didn't have a lot of time to make sure I didn't miss anything.**

 **Honestly, I just needed to write a fluffy family one-shot with a little angst before starting on my bigger projects. Yeah, that's right people, I'm starting bigger projects! I'm actually really excited, i've got more than a few ready to get started. Keep an eye out for those!**

 **So, anyway, I'd love to see some reviews! I hope you liked the story, everyone!**


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